(Flashback, several years ago, Grigori Headquarters)
"Azazel! Oi, Azazel!" a young boy, no older than 10 year-old, with dark silver hair was walking towards a figure of a man with six pairs of jet-black crow wings. There was also another man with a bald-head who dressed in a baggy, ragged clothes with a robe along with the twelve-winged man.
The one called as Azazel turned his head when he heard his name was being shout, then he recognised the sight of the one calling him. "Oh, Vali! Perfect timing, I was about to look for you!" said Azazel in glee as he waved his hand around. The bald man was simply staring at the kid with indifference.
When the kid, known as Vali, reached Azazel, the child immediately turned his gaze at the bald man before him. "Azazel, who's this guy?" Vali asked pointing at the man as soon as he finished eyeing him.
"Glad that you asked. This man here is Saitama. He'll be your sparing partner for now", said Azazel patting the shoulder of the bald man, whom identified as Saitama.
Vali furrowed his eyebrows in scepticism. "Him, my sparring partner? He looks like a wimp", Vali commented.
Saitama only rolled his eyes at Vali's comment. It was not his first time to be looked down upon based on his appearance alone. Azazel himself only chuckled in amusement. "Come on, don't say that. Why don't you give him a shot first before you say anything?"
Saitama himself whispered as he leaned his head closer towards Azazel. "Oi, Azazel, you sure you're paying me to fight a kid?"
"Hey, I can hear you, old man! Who're you calling a kid!?" a vein mark appeared on his face as Vali yelled while he put his hands on his waist.
Azazel laughed in amusement. "Hahaha, glad you're getting along so quick. As for you Saitama, I know you're strong and all, but you shouldn't underestimate this kid too much", Azazel said as he patted Vali's head, which Vali quickly swatted the hand away in annoyance. "Do you remember the 13 Longinus I told you earlier?" Azazel asked and he continued after receiving a nod. "This kid has one of them, and he had mastered all the basics a couple of years ago. I just need your help to train him to reach his highest potential."
Saitama stared at Vali, who also stared back, and he rubbed his bald head before he let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll help…. So, kid", Saitama said to Vali. "Don't expect me to go easy on you."
Vali only replied in mocking tone. "Ha! I'm gonna kick your ass six ways to Sunday, you cue ball! And I'm not a kid!"
Later, a scream of agony, curses and sometimes whines and cries were heard from Grigori training facility. The soon-to-be strongest White Dragon Emperor tasted a new meaning of power on that day.
(End of Flashback)
X
Issei was sleeping soundly right when the morning came. As he felt the ray of morning sun came through the window, landing on his face, he grimaced slightly as he mumbled in his sleep, then he pressed his face on the pillow in his embrace.
"Aahn…"
Suddenly, the boy flinched as he heard that moan in his slumber. Besides, his pillow, which should be only one on his bed, was resting right under his head, so how could he embrace another one? Not to mention, this particular pillow he was hugging had a really nice smell and when he pressed his face towards it, he could felt two soft things on his cheeks. The boy slowly opened his eyes, and as his vision got clearer, he drew his face away from his 'extra pillow', and he was met with a bountiful pair of woman's breasts. His eyes widened and his body stiffened in shock, then his eyes caught the sight of familiar red locks.
Swallowing a lump, Issei brought his eyes upwards from the sight before him and he was met with familiar pair of teal-coloured eyes. The owner of the said eyes was awake and smiling at him.
"Good morning, Ise."
Issei finally realised that while he was sleeping, he was hugging a naked Rias Gremory like a pillow for entire night. The boy's face immediately flushed in deep red, he jumped from his bed and immediately prostate himself in front of Rias who was still on the bed with all her naked glory.
"I-I-I-I'm so sorry, ojou-sama! I-I didn't mean to…!"
Then Rias immediately cut him off. "Ise, what are you supposed to say when someone greeted you first in the morning?"
Issei lifted his face from the ground and he saw his master was looking at him with gentle smile on her face. Looking away in embarrassment, Issei changed his position to seiza position on his knees and nervously replied, "G-good morning to you too, Rias ojou-sama…"
Rias only giggled at the spectacle as she sat on the bed, not bother to cover her body. Issei then tried to regain his composure as his face was still beet red, he took a deep breath as he tried to remember what happened last night. What were they doing together in the same bed? Why was his master in his house in the first place?
[She decided to crash in your house right after the party, remember? You were told that you can go to sleep first while she took a quick shower]
Issei let out a sigh at Ddraig's reminder. He certainly did not expect that Rias would have slept in his room instead of Asia's. He wanted to ask, but he found himself reluctant to do so. After taking back his composure as much as possible, Issei stood up and he took the blanket on the bed, he spread it open and he wrapped the blanket around Rias' shoulder to cover her modesty.
The red-haired girl raised her eyebrows, but she smiled in appreciation for the treatment. Issei looked at his clock, and he found that it was already too late to be called morning, let alone for him to do his training exercise, so he decided to get ready for a brunch right away.
"Come on, ojou-sama. Please get dressed and go downstairs. I'll prepare breakfast", Issei said with a kind smile.
Just when the boy was about to walk towards the door, someone was knocking from outside of his room.
"Ise-san, the food is ready!" Asia's cheerful voice was heard from beyond the door.
Issei's eyes widened at the call. He could not possibly show Asia this kind of sight. With quick thinking, Issei managed to come out with a proper reply. "O-okay! I'll be down there soon!" However…
"Yes, Asia. I'll be down there with Ise as soon as I'm ready."
Issei froze and he robotically turned his head towards Rias who was smiling playfully with gleams on her eyes. The boy swallowed another lump when the door suddenly slammed open, revealing a shocked-face Asia.
"Good morning, Asia", was all Rias said with cheerful smile.
Asia, still with her shocked-face, turned to Issei whom shaking his head frantically, as if trying to say that it was not what it looks like. Soon, the blonde bishop's eyes got teary and she brought her hands towards her pajama pants.
"I'll get naked too! I don't want to be left out!" said Asia as she started to bring her pants down her legs.
"Wow, wow, wow! Stop!" Issei immediately took a counter-measure as he quickly moved to put Asia's pants back to her waist before Asia's legs could have gotten off from the clothing. Asia, still teary-eyed, looked at Issei, who was still blushing and panting slightly in his breaths.
Issei took a deep breath before saying with a stern tone. "Nobody will strip anymore here! And ojou-sama…" Issei turned to his master, who was watching in amusement from the bed. "I'm begging you, put something on, already!" Issei pleaded desperately as Rias was still only in a blanket.
Rias rose from her sitting position as she smiled before let out another giggle. "Fine, fine…" Rias said playfully. When the girl walked towards the dresser, she stopped by the window for a second and she noticed something outside. "I guess all of them have arrived here."
"Ojou-sama?" Issei asked curiously about what Rias meant.
"Just go down first and I'll explain during breakfast, okay?" Rias said with a wink.
The boy simply shrugged and he took Asia, who had calmed down enough, with him downstairs.
X
"So, from today onwards, I will be living in this house as well", Rias said as she gave a formal bow on her seat. "I as well, will be in your care from now on, Hyoudou-san…"
"Of course, of course! I'm so glad to have more company in the house! Ise, your mother here is so happy for you giving me more daughters!" Hyoudou Haruka replied gleefully. For a second, Issei could have sworn that he heard his mother muttering something about more grandchildren.
Back to the topic, Issei poked his head a bit towards the front door, where all Rias' belongings were laid beyond it, and he gazed back at the situation on the dining table.
After Issei downed his glass of milk in one go, he put down the glass carefully as he asked, "Um, ojou-sama? Why would you like to stay in this house again?"
"I simply want to be closer with my junior, that's all. Do you have something to say?" Rias replied as she sipped her cup of tea.
Issei actually had few things to say. If Rias simply want to be closer with her servant, why did she not do this with others like Yuuto, Koneko, or Akeno perhaps? This might be favouritism, but in the end, who was he to judge his own master? It was already impolite enough if he were to kick Rias out of his house.
Letting out a sigh, Issei only nodded as he came up with a smile. "No, nothing, ojou-sama. I hope you'll like it here", Issei said. The boy had to admit, it might be interesting in its own right as well. Besides, from another point of view, his mother would have more extra hands to do housework.
"Well, with all said and done…" Rias clapped her hands. "Ise, can you please move my belongings inside the house once we finished our meal?" she asked her pawn.
"As you wish, ojou-sama…" Issei replied in compliance. His mother giggled at Issei's attitude while Asia whimpered as she kept trying to swallow her dilemma with her food. The blonde girl felt that a rival had finally shown up.
(Scene Break)
"Ah, Ise-san… I'll help too", Asia said as she ran towards the pile of boxes that belong to Rias.
"Oh, thanks, Asia. Just don't push yourself too much, okay? We're already more than half-done, after all", Issei replied as he brought another box from the pile.
"Ise, I forgot one more thing. The others will come here later at noon since we're not going to school, so I decided that we'll have club activities in your house, is it okay?" Rias asked as she helped out with the moving as well.
Putting down another box, Issei thought for a second. "Yeah. It's fine, ojou-sama. I'll just have to tidy up the living room later before everyone shows up", Issei replied.
When the last box had been moved at last, Rias wiped her sweats as she turned to Issei. "Well, while we're waiting for the others to arrive, let's have a shower. I'll wash your back."
"Eh?"
Issei was a bit petrified at Rias' offer. However, before the boy could have said anything in return, Asia suddenly hugged Issei's arm. "Geez! I don't want to be left out! I'll wash Ise-san's back as well!"
"Hoo? Is that a declaration of war, Asia? Ufufufu…", Rias said challengingly as she hugged Issei's other arm.
"Err… Do I even have any say in this?" Issei's question fell on deaf ears as the girls kept glaring at each other.
[Kukukuku… Just enjoy it, partner…] Ddraig said mentally with amused tone. Issei could only sighed in return.
(Scene Break)
It took Issei's whole will-power in order to hold his composure during his bath-time with Rias and Asia, especially when those two were quarrelling about who would get the first turn to wash Issei's back. Now, dressed in a pair of shorts and a white T-shirt, the pawn was cleaning the living room with a vacuum cleaner
"Good grief, those girls…" Issei thought as he was vacuuming the living room. The boy wore an apron and a cloth over his head to keep him from the dust. "But those sensations…" Issei's mind trailed-off as he stared at blank space, his movement on the vacuum cleaner became monotone, stuck on the same spot over and over.
"Ojou-sama's breasts are really soft… No wonder all of the guys fawn over her…" Issei's mind recalled the sensation on his back. "Asia's… While smaller, her breasts still there, and almost as soft as ojou-sama as well…"
Then, just when Issei's lips twitched upwards, his eyes immediately widened, his face flustered, and he furiously shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Bad thoughts, Ise! Bad thoughts!" the boy thought scolding himself as he began to move with the vacuum cleaner around the room frantically. "Don't let those thoughts cloud your mind, Ise! You must protect them! Their innocence! Even from yourself!" Issei thought as his face still flushed.
Suddenly…
"Having lewd thoughts?"
"GAAH!"
Issei screamed in surprise and he turned around to see his mother smirking at him. Her body was leaning on the edge of the entrance of living room from the hallway.
"Mom!" Issei whined to his mother. Haruka simply giggled as she approached her son.
"Well? I'm still waiting for your answer", the woman said as she stopped in front of Issei.
The boy gave an incredulous look. "Wh- No! I'm not thinking about breasts or anything!" Issei denied as he shook his fuming head.
"Hoo… I see, I see… Those girls, especially Rias-chan sure has a pair of amazing knockers… So, which one do you prefer? Rias-chan or Asia-chan?" Haruka said with playful grin.
Issei's face went even redder at his mother's question. "Oh, come on now! Like I can answer that!" Issei whined to the woman.
"Just be honest now, sweetie… Your mother has been waiting for the day where we can talk about your girlfriends, you know?"
"Geez, mom… We're not in that kind of relationship… Speaking of, where are those two?" Issei retorted and he asked about Rias and Asia's whereabouts.
"Rias-chan and Asia-chan are in the kitchen, preparing snacks for your friends later", Haruka replied as she scanned around the room. "You should leave this kind of thing to me and go have fun with your friends, you know?" the woman said with bitter look.
"Mom…" Issei's expression suddenly softened. "I'm fine, trust me. You've been busy taking care of me and the house ever since… dad left us…" Issei finished with his expression turned bitter.
Haruka could only let out a small sigh as she smiled bitterly. "Still can't get over your dad, aren't you?"
Issei chuckled a bit in return. "Well, I guess I am…"
Suddenly, Haruka enveloped her son into a hug. Issei was already taller than her so the woman rested her head on her son's shoulder as her arms circling around his back. Issei who was taken a back slightly from the hug, relaxed himself and he returned the hug as he rested his head on his mother's shoulder.
"Thanks, mom…" Issei said in content. "I'll bring him home, I promise."
Haruka broke off the hug, she caressed her hand on her son's cheek and she smiled at her son, who smiled back. "I know you will. Just don't force yourself too hard, okay?" Issei simply nodded in response.
The two Hyoudou's turned their heads at the sound of the doorbell. "Looks like your friends have arrived. Go greet them, I'll take over things here", Haruka said as she moved and took away the vacuum cleaner from the living room, while Issei took off his apron and his cloth from his head and walked towards the front door.
"Yes, coming!" Issei said as he heard another doorbell. The boy opened the door to see his friends from Occult Research Club in their casual outfit (A/N: I'll leave their clothes in your imagination). "Hey, guys."
"Fufufu, thank you for having us today, Ise-kun…" Akeno greeted with her usual smile.
"Good afternoon, Ise-senpai…" Koneko greeted with her usual stoic face, but beneath that expression, she was enjoying her visit.
"Sorry to intrude, Issei-kun", Yuuto said with his usual smile as well.
"It's fine, you guys… Just come on in", Issei replied as he made a path for the others to come through.
Upon stepping inside, while they were putting off their shoes, the guests were greeted by Haruka, Rias and Asia. The latter two were dressed in their respective casual clothing as well.
"Thank you for coming, everyone", Rias said in greeting.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Akeno-san, Koneko-chan, Kiba-san", Asia said addressing the others one by one.
Issei then moved to his mother's side. "Everyone, let me introduce you my mother. Mom, these are my friends from the school, Akeno-san, Koneko-chan, and Kiba."
The three introduced guests widened their eyes ever so slightly at Haruka's appearance as they thought pretty much the same thing.
"So young…"
"A pleasure to meet you, Hyoudou-san… My name is Himejima Akeno. I'm sorry, but at the first glance I thought you are Ise-kun's elder sister…" the said girl introduced herself with a polite bow before she commented on Haruka's looks.
Issei only rolled his eyes at Akeno's remarks. While Haruka giggled in return. "Fufufu, I'm flattered to be told such a thing by a beautiful girl like you, Akeno-san…"
The other two also did the same gesture as Akeno when they introduced their names.
"My name is Toujou Koneko, nice to meet you."
"I'm Kiba Yuuto, nice to meet you, ma'am."
Haruka's smile grew even wider as she clasped her hands in joy. "Oh my, thank you so much for coming here. I'm so glad that my son managed to make new friends other than Motohama and Matsuda… Those two are good kids, but-"
"Alright, alright… Let's continue in the living room, shall we?" Issei said, cutting-off his mother's words as he motioned the woman to the living room. "Just make your selves comfortable. I'll be back with snacks", Issei said as he left to the kitchen.
(Scene Break)
"Uh… What are you all doing? Mom, what are you doing?" Issei asked at the crowd before him, with deadpanned expression and with his hands holding a tray full of drinks and snacks prepared by Rias and Asia beforehand.
"And this is the 5 year-old Ise…" Haruka said gleefully as she showed the picture of her 5 year-old son, drinking a milk in nude, in the album.
"Oh, my… Look at his butt… I never knew that Ise-kun likes to streak like that, fufufu…" Akeno commented with the same glee. Apparently when Issei was going to the kitchen, Haruka immediately took their family photo albums and showed the contents to all guests in the living room.
Issei remained deadpanned as he gazed at his friends who were enjoying the album before them. "Ise-senpai's embarrassing past…" Issei spotted Koneko muttered those words as the little girl looking at one of the albums.
When Issei looked at the others, he spotted his master, while her eyes were sparkling, the girl was somewhat in a trance while looking at the pictures. "Little Ise, little Ise, little Ise…" the pawn heard his king mumbling those words like a mantra.
"Yes! Yes, I can understand what your feelings, buchou-san!" Issei could see Asia said as she scooted next to Rias, the blonde's emerald eyes were glittering with joy as well.
Letting out a sigh, Issei put down the tray on the table before he joined the crowd. "Mom, why would you show them my old pictures?" Issei asked with exasperate tone and with his face slightly flushed to his mother. The boy would not say that he was embarrassed, since it was only natural for him to act like that during his childhood. However, having people to take a peek at your past felt… somewhat disturbing in more ways than one.
Haruka turned towards Issei with playful smirk. "Fufufu, Ise… While it's your job to make me proud as my son…" Haruka put her thumb up. "It's one of my duties as your mother to embarrass you in front of your friends. Tehe!" Haruka finished with a wink.
Issei's eyes twitched as a vein popped on his face. While his mother looks young, having her to act all cute despite her age tends to annoy Issei to a degree. After releasing yet another sigh, Issei stood up as he attempted to wrap up the current session. "Alright, alright! That's enough with my things!" Issei moved towards Yuuto who was the closest to him. "This is supposed to be a club-meeting, remember?"
When Yuuto was having a turn to take a look at the album, he skilfully managed to avoid Issei's grasp on the album. "Hahaha… Come on now, Issei-kun. Sure we can learn more about yourself, right?" said the knight as he flipped another page.
Suddenly, Yuuto's expression stiffened when his eyes landed upon one particular picture. The picture showed the little Issei was posing like a superhero together with a child with light brown hair.
"Say, Issei-kun…" Yuuto said with cold tone.
Noticing the tone, Issei's expression hardened ever so slightly as he replied with slight cautious. "Yeah?"
"Do you remember anything about this picture?"
Issei took a glance at the picture, "Well… That's Irina, the kid I usually hang out with when I was small… But a year or two after we knew each other, she left to move to Europe or something… What about it?"
"Do you know anything about this sword, then?" Yuuto pointed at the sword ornament on the wall above the two children in the picture.
"Hmm… I only know that the sword belongs to her dad… Again, what about it?" Issei asked in return.
"Heh…" Yuuto snorted as his gaze became colder. "To see another holy sword again this soon… Such a small world, indeed…"
Issei furrowed his eyebrows as he noticed a particular term. "Holy sword...?" However, the boys' musings were interrupted by another gleeful voice from Haruka.
"And look at what we have here! Ise's first bread-eating contest in grade-school!"
Issei's head snapped towards his mother and the girls as he remembered what he was about to do before talking with Yuuto. "Crap… Come on, you girls! And you too, mom! I told you to knock it off!" Issei said as he walked away from the knight.
And the girls, safe for Koneko, whined in disappointment as Issei snatched the photo albums away.
X
The school days after the rating game with Riser went on as usual. The crowds of male and female students shrieked in surprise, hatred and jealousy when they saw Issei, now together with Rias and Asia (he used to walk with only one of the girls), were walking through the school gate.
Later after class, Issei, sitting on his desk, was looking outside at the sky through the window beside him. During entire lessons, his mind was trailing off to the day when the Occult Research Club was visiting his house. After Yuuto had seen the picture that had a 'holly sword', as the knight had said, the club activity in his house went on like usual, only with Yuuto having a dark expression on his face during the entire meeting.
"I wonder what was that all about…" Issei thought to himself as he could not take his mind off from yesterday's event.
"Ise, you bastard!"
Suddenly Issei felt that his head was being hit by an iron club. "Ouch!" Issei yelped as he rubbed his sore head, looking at his two friends, Matsuda and Motohama. It was strange for the devil, how could a hit from two mere humans felt hurt to him?
"Okay, what is it this time?" Issei asked staring half-lidded at his angry friends.
The two sobbing their tears while their expressions were mixtures of anger, sadness and betrayal. "After all these times we look up on you as our senior…!"
"We thought we were bros!"
"Don't you care how we felt when you introduced us to one of your 'girls', huh!?"
Issei furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh? What are you…" then Issei's eyes widened in remembrance. "Oh…" He just recalled that he had introduced Mil-tan to them.
"'Oh'!? Is that 'oh' your can say to us!? We only asked you only one! Just one! One of your girls for us to get along! Was that too much to ask!?" Motohama yelled crying anime tears with Matsuda.
"Um, I already told you, I don't…" then Issei scoffed. "You know what? I won't even bother anymore. Believe what you like", Issei said with his hands up. "So… how is it? With Mil-tan, I mean?"
"That's horrible! I think cosplayers will never be the same to me ever again!" Matsuda cried. Motohama interjected, "So for revenge, we've decided to talk shit about you all over the school!"
"Or rather, we have spread out of those rumours since this morning."
Issei tensed up a bit at the word 'rumours'. He looked around the class, and he spotted some of his classmates were whispering at each other while they looked at him with a look of disgust, some of their looks were strangely pleased as well.
"Alright, I'll bite. What did you tell everyone?" Issei asked as he knocking his fingers on the table.
Matsuda and Motohama snickered at the question.
"Glad that you asked. First of all, there are rumours that you pulled Rias Gremory-senpai and Himejima Akeno-senpai into your harem by black-mails and dirty means! Everyday, after school, you'll indulge your carnal desire on them with various kinds of savage erotic plays!"
Issei froze at the statement. Think about it again, with all those two girls' advances on him (which he did not really understand the point of), it might be just a matter of time until that rumour became true.
"I've been fearing my own sanity, and my virginity regarding those two ever since that rating game…" Issei commented warily in his mind.
"Then, there's also where you have dragged Asia Argento-chan, our new transfer student into your sick fetish!"
"I'm not even sure my own fetish, but seriously!? How the fuck can I do that to Asia, of all people!?" this time, a vein mark popped out on Issei's head.
"We also said that you have sunk your teeth on our school's mascot, Toujou Koneko-chan!"
"Her too!? I didn't even talk much with her!"
"And the last but not the least…" Issei swallowed a lump as he saw his friends' grin grew wider. "As the girls like it, we've also spread that you have tried few kinky stuffs with the school prince, Kiba Yuuto!"
BAM! BAM!
Issei was standing up, his fist clenched and smoking, and Matsuda and Motohama were faced-down on the floor, with a smoking bump on each of their heads.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Issei looked around and see his classmates were looking at him with odd gazes. Letting out a sigh, Issei simply picked the two knocked-out bodies and placed them on both of his shoulders. Upon walking to the door, Issei was met with Asia and a girl with brown hair styled in twin-braids, she was also wearing spectacles with pink frame.
"Ise-san, where are you going- what happened with Matsuda-san and Motohama-san?" Asia asked innocently.
Before Issei could have replied, the girl with pink glasses interjected. "Meh, maybe Hyoudou was just being teased and harassed by those two, he ended up knocking them out and now he's carrying him to the infirmary. Am I right, Hyoudou-kun?" the girl smirk in confidence.
Issei almost forgot that the girl beside Asia was sharper than he thought. Aika Kiryuu, a classmate of his and Asia, also known as the perverted girl who can calculate a man's 'manhood' size from just looks. There were several occasions where the girl tried to take a 'measure' on Issei, which prompted the latter to cover his crotch on those occasions.
"Right on the money…" Issei replied with a sigh. "By the way, Kiryuu…" Issei looked at the girl. "You… didn't happen to put any weird ideas into Asia's head, did you?"
At the question, Kiryuu only smirked as her glasses flashed, "Kukuku… I wonder?"
Issei's swallowed another lump, worried for Asia's innocence, as the girl in question simply blinked, not understanding what Issei and Kiryuu were implying.
"Anyway, I gotta go and drop these two idiots. Asia, I'll see you later in the clubroom", Issei said after taking out a breath as he went past the girls. Asia simply nodded, however, when Issei's eyes met with Kiryuu's during the exchange, his eyes and hers were exchanging messages through the glints alone.
"I got my eyes on you"
"Bring it on"
Then Issei quickly averted his eyes and proceed towards the school's infirmary.
X
Later at night, Issei was standing in front of large doors of a mansion of his new client in a middle of the town. The meeting in the clubroom went on as usual, except for Yuuto who still had his dark expression since yesterday. The knight even dozed off when he was being called and all. However, Issei quickly put the thought at the back of his mind for the moment and focused back at the task at hand.
"This new client is quite reach, I suppose… But…" Issei's mind noticed the strange atmosphere around him and the building. "This presence… though it's not hostile, but…" Issei could not help but suspicious.
[I'm here whenever you need me, partner]
Issei was relieved a bit having his dragon partner ready to aid him at the moment's notice. "Yeah… Thanks, Ddraig."
"Here we go now…" The pawn steeled himself and knocked on the door. "Hello, I'm the devil you summoned!" the boy yelled.
The door opened by itself, and a spine-chilling gust of wind washed over Issei. The boy swallowed a nervous lump and he heard a voice.
"Ah… Come in here, devil-kun…" Issei followed the voice into a room.
Upon coming into the room, Issei was met with a man with black hair, golden bangs and black goatee. The man was wearing a green yukata and sitting down on a couch in front of a large TV screen.
"Okay… So what is your wish?" Issei took the initiative to ask first.
The man simply shrugged as he beckoned him to sit next to him. "Nothing much. I just bought this new game here and I need someone to play with. Would you mind?"
Issei looked at the newest X-Box console and at the TV screen that showed the game 'Halo Reach'. At the sight of the game, Issei's eyes widened.
"Someone seems interested…" The man said with a knowing smirk.
"Yeah, you bet I am…" Issei's lips twitched upwards. "I always want to try playing this game."
"You ever play FPS before?" the man asked again as Issei took a seat next to him.
"Well… Counter Strike, Left 4 Dead, you know, simple stuffs", Issei replied.
"Oh, I actually have those too. Let's play them next time, shall we?"
"No problem, so… shall we play now?" Issei said as the man simply smiled and started the game.
(Scene Break)
[You seemed to be having fun]
Issei suddenly remembered his earlier paranoia when he was entering the house before, but now, he managed to fulfil a contract and his worries were all forgotten.
"Uh… Yeah, my bad there. But still, I didn't expect him to be… easy to talk with…" Issei replied back to Ddraig, scratching his cheek in slight embarrassment.
[You didn't even bother to at least ask him, did you?]
"Yeah, sorry. I guess I got caught in the moment."
[Well, I guess I can't be helped since he let you go. Just keep your guard up if you ever come to him again, you hear me?]
"Okay, okay…"
Just when Issei was about to head back to the clubroom, the boy sensed a magical signal on his palm and a magic communication circle appeared on it. The pawn could see Akeno's body being projected from the red magic circle.
"Akeno-san? What is it?" Issei asked looking at his open palm.
"Good work for today, Ise-kun. Sorry for a sudden notice but we've received another order from the Archduke", Akeno replied with her usual smile.
"Another stray?" Akeno simply nodded at the question.
"I'll send you the location to your phone and we'll meet there, Ise-kun", Akeno said as Issei's phone suddenly buzzed. Speak of the devil.
Issei had already able to use magic for communicate, but he still had to rely on his gadgets for more advanced communication like seeing coordinates and stuff. Like during his previous training days, the pawn still lacking in magic department.
"Okay, I got it. See you and the others later, Akeno-san", Issei said looking at his cell-phone as he turned off the magic link.
Issei opted to leapt or perhaps fly towards the location, however, before he could have made any movement, the boy stopped as he thought to himself.
"Can I do this now?"
Looking at the coordinate on his cell-phone again, Issei relaxed himself as he closed his eyes and channelled his magical reserve. Soon, a magic circle appeared on his feet and Issei's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to focus even harder. The magic circle glowed brighter and then…
BOOM!
[Pssh, too bad. Good luck next time, partner] Ddraig smirked at his host's failure.
It exploded, leaving Issei's body covered in dust. "(sigh)… It's still no good", Issei simply muttered to himself, ignoring the dragon's comment as he began his journey on foot towards his comrades.
X
This time, at an abandoned construction site, Issei landed not far from his friends, who had been gathered before him.
"Oh, good work for tonight, Ise", Rias said as being the first one to saw him.
"Yes, good work for tonight too, ojou-sama, everyone", Issei said as he approached his group. While everyone nodded and greeted him in return, Issei noticed that Yuuto was still in his trance. "So… I take that our target is inside the building?" Issei asked, ignoring the knight for a moment.
"We believe so", was all Rias said as she and the others stared at the abandoned building.
Issei stared into the building as he cracked his index finger with his thumb. "Ojou-sama, should I?" Issei volunteered himself as he moved forward.
"Yes, please do, Ise. Koneko, Yuuto, you two go with him. I, Akeno and Asia will act as the rear support", Rias commanded at her peerage, followed by affirmative replies from everyone, safe for Yuuto. The Gremory knight just awoke from his mussing when everybody chorused their affirmations.
Issei was starting to worry about Yuuto, but he chose to focus at the hunt for now. When the three chosen vanguards went inside the building, Issei and Koneko could sense that they definitely were not alone. Soon enough, a monster, taking a form of a deformed giant scorpion appeared from the ceilings. Its upper body was that of a man with huge claws as its arms, the rest of the lower body was that of a scorpion.
"Okay… So let's wrap this up smoothly, guys…" Issei prepared his touki and Boosted Gear, starting to charge his power while Koneko took her fighting stance, however, unknown to anyone Yuuto was barely paying attention.
The monster, the stray devil roared, and Issei and Koneko quickly moved to engage it. The monster strode forward, and while Issei and Koneko quickly stepped aside to evade the monster's advance to run them over, Issei's eyes widened when his gaze fixated on Yuuto, who was still on his previous spot.
"Oi, Kiba! In front! Front!" Issei yelled out loud.
"Yuuto!" Rias shouted in worry, this time manage to snap the knight out from his trance.
Yuuto quickly summoned a demonic sword and skilfully managed to cut off one of the monster's claws that was directed to him at the last second, however, the monster still had not given up on targeting Yuuto whose position was still the closest to it. As the monster threw its other claw towards Yuuto, Issei quickly appeared between them and held the claw in its place with both of his arms, preventing it to take another inch closer towards Yuuto.
"Nggh…!" Issei grunted as he was slightly overpowered for a second from the sheer force since he did not manage to position his feet properly. After few seconds of struggling, once he got a better position, the pawn took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the next course of action.
"Hup!"
The pawn did not bother to used his stored-up boosts, and relying on his touki-enhanced strength, the pawn threw the monster's body to the side towards a wall. The monster let out a pained growl as its body hit the wall, and while the monster was just struggling to stand back up, Issei was already running to it with his Boosted Gear cocked back.
"Haah!"
As Issei thrusted his left fist towards the stray devil, the monster's upper body exploded as soon as the pawn's Boosted Gear made contact, the impact caused the stray devil's blackened blood splattered across the ground. As the upper body that controls the rest of the limbs had completely gone, the lower body of the monster simply limping away before it finally collapsed to the ground.
[Reset!]
In the end, it was Issei who did most of the job during the hunt that night.
"Okay, that was easy…" Issei dismissed his Boosted Gear and thought to himself as he did not expect that the stray devil was not as strong as he anticipated.
Issei looked around at the carcass of the stray devil and he found Koneko came out from behind the devil's remains, her face was not amused at all. Apparently, when Issei blew the monster away, Koneko, who was standing behind the stray devil got caught by the blood splattered from Issei's attack. Seeing the dirtied and tainted body (no pun intended) of the rook, Issei gulped as he rubbed his head.
"Um… Sorry about that, Koneko-chan… You okay?" Issei asked.
"Disgusting…" Koneko replied with harsh tone as she tried to rub away some of the blood from her face. "But… good work, senpai", Koneko raised up her thumb as she had to admit that Issei's attack really did the job.
While Issei was still a bit confused either to thank or apologise to her again, a slapping sound was heard across the room.
Turning towards the source of the noise, Issei found that Rias' hand just slapped across Yuuto's cheek, the latter's cheek was tinted red from the slap.
"Are you awake now?" Rias asked with stern, yet slightly cold tone. Yuuto did not say anything in return. "We've managed to finish the hunt without casualties, but your actions could have killed someone. What's a matter with you?"
"I'm sorry about the battle earlier, it seems I wasn't feeling well…" Yuuto replied with a fake, sheepish smile. "It should be fine now, right? I'm a bit tired, so please allow me to take a bit of break from the club activities. Excuse me…", Yuuto simply replied as he turned around and walked away.
Rias and the others did not say anything as they watched their knight walked away, however…
"Wait", a hand landed on Yuuto's shoulder after he walked for a while. "You've been really out of it since yesterday and it became even worse only in a day. What's wrong with you, really?" Issei asked stopping the knight.
Yuuto was silent for a second, then he shoved Issei's hand away. "It doesn't concern you", the knight said with the same fake smile he showed to Rias before.
"Well too bad, pal…" Issei replied harshly as he gripped Yuuto's collar shirt. "Now after all we've gone through as a team, there's no way I could just leave you alone. Seriously, tell me. What the hell is going on with you?"
Yuuto was about to retort, but seeing Issei's expression that says the pawn will not receive any bullshit, the knight only sighed in defeat. "You're too emotional for your own good, Issei-kun…" Yuuto said as he broke away from Issei's grip. "I… just remembered something when I came to your house…"
Issei's eyebrows raised up slightly. "Which is…?"
"My reason to fight… My reason to live…", Yuuto replied.
"Your reason… Isn't it for Rias buchou?"
"No…"
Issei's eyes widened slightly when he saw the hatred in Yuuto's eyes.
"It's for vengeance…" Yuuto said as he clutched his hand. "To destroy the holy sword Excalibur… That's my only reason to fight…"
Issei could only stared at Yuuto's figure that gradually disappeared into the darkness of night.
To be continued…